Louisiana Workforce Commission releases July workforce data

On Friday, the Louisiana Workforce Commission released July 2014 non-farm employment and civilian labor force data for the state of Louisiana, its parishes and eight different metropolitan statistical areas. According to the commission's economic comparison, six of the 11 industry sectors examined had employment increases while only four declined and one remained neutral.

Within Morehouse Parish, the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.3 percent in July with other Northeast Louisiana parishes also posting high numbers. East Carroll's unemployment rate, also not seasonally adjusted, sat at 12.3 percent while West Carroll was only slightly under that percentage at 12.0 percent. The Madison Parish unemployment rate was at 9.9 percent, Richland's 8.1 percent and Ouachita's 6.5.

Ouachita Parish sits very near the nationwide unemployment rate of 6.2 percent according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released on Aug. 1. According to that report, non-farm payroll employment increased by 209,000 across the country in July. Within Louisiana, there was a gain of 7,700 jobs since June according to the LWC.

Despite the 10.3 percent rate, Morehouse Parish has improved on the unemployment rate front since July 2013 when the rate topped 11.9 percent and 1,384 residents were considered unemployed. That number has decreased to 1,086 as of July 2014 according to the LWC data. Currently, Morehouse has 10,255 employed workers.

The LWC data reports that the average worker in private industry in Louisiana earns $22.21 per hour compared to the nationwide average of $24.45 provided by the U.S. BLS. In the Monroe MSA, the average wage per hour is $17.52. Hourly pay averages for Morehouse Parish were not provided within the report.